"Masks not enough, this pollution will cause permanent damage", Supreme Court urges lawyers to appear virtually

Justice PS Narasimha of the Supreme Court of India yesterday expressed is concern over lawyers appearing before court amid the worsening condition of the air quality in Delhi NCR region.

"Pollution levels have reached a very serious stage, wearing masks is not enough", Justice Narasimha told Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal appearing before his bench in a matter.

The bench further observed that pollution was such that it could cause permanent damage. "Why are you all here? We have a facility for virtual hearings, please use it. This pollution can cause permanent damage," Justice PS Narasimha said sternly.

“Even masks are not sufficient. We will discuss this issue with the Chief Justice as well,", the bench added.

Two days back, the Supreme Court was told that the condition in Delhi, owing to the deteriorating condition of the air quality, has become hazardous. Senior Advocate and Amicus Curiae Aparajita Singh, appearing in the MC Mehta case had told the bench that farmers were told to burn their crops after a particular time so that the satellites don't catch images. To this the CJI asked, "Are all farmers deciding a particular time to burn their crops?". The bench went on to question as to who was directing the farmers to burn the crops after a particular time.

The case will now be heard on Monday, November 17.

Recently, the Supreme Court had called for a report from Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) and the Central Pollution Control Board on the steps taken to prevent the pollution from worsening further. Senior Advocate Aparajita Singh had informed the bench that newspapers had reported that many monitoring stations are non-functional. "If the monitoring stations are not even functioning, we don't even know when to implement GRAP, that is the severe situation milords", Singh added. ASG Aishwarya Bhatti told the bench that the requisite reports would be filed.